TABLE FOR TWO: Coconut flour biscuits are a cheesy treat

In my never-ending quest for low-carb, gluten-free, grain-free side dishes to replace the bread, biscuits and other wheat-based foods we used to eat with dinner, I somehow overlooked an obvious base ingredient: coconut flour.

I think subconsciously it was because fresh coconut tastes naturally sweet, and coconut flour smells sweet, so I tended to think of it as an ingredient for sweet dishes like muffins, quick breads, scones and the like.

Oy, was I wrong. Coconut flour is one of those ingredients, kind of like tofu, that absorbs the flavors of whatever you make with it, so it works in both sweet and savory dishes. It pairs well with everything from maple, chocolate and cinnamon to chilies, onions and cheese.

As followers of the paleo lifestyle, or the "just eat real food" plan, we sometimes still miss having a bread-like side dish at dinnertime, whether it's to sop up the gravy from a stew, slice in half and top with sloppy Joes, or accompany anything from chili to gumbo.

Nutrient-dense starches like sweet potatoes, carrots and squash, plus one or two pieces of fruit each day, are the source of most of our carbohydrates, but those don't do the job like a good old-fashioned biscuit.

I started my online search with the phrase "paleo biscuits." But everything I found used almond flour, and I'm trying not to eat too many nuts. I already eat a midmorning snack every day that I make with almond flour and almond butter, and that's enough nuts for one day.

My second search was for "gluten-free biscuits." That turned up hundreds if not thousands of recipes using gluten-free flour mixes, both store-bought and homemade. That would be fine if we were just gluten-free, but we're also grain-free. Most gluten-free flour mixes contain non-wheat flours such as millet, rice, amaranth, quinoa and the like, and are definitely not low-carb.

Next, I tried "low-carb biscuits" and that's when I hit the jackpot: biscuits made with coconut flour. As usual, I adapted the recipes from several sites, one of which also switched up the ingredients into a scone-like pastry that I'll try at some point in the future.

But for now, my goal was a warm, flaky, crumbly, cheesy biscuit without the carbs and refined/processed grains of my mom's Bisquick concoctions or the buttermilk biscuits we used to get at KFC.

A note on the "cheesy" part: Some who follow a grain-free lifestyle eat dairy foods, some don't. Some eat sweeteners like raw honey, maple syrup or coconut crystals. Others don't. Whatever.

The point is whether or not I'm cooking with nutrient-dense ingredients, and since we don't eat a lot of dairy, the occasional cheesy treat made with organic, grass-fed dairy fits the bill, as does coconut.

Coconut flour is nothing more than finely ground, defatted coconut meat -- think shredded coconut with most of the coconut oil extracted. It's high in fiber and low in digestible carbohydrates. Two tablespoons contain 5 grams of fiber, 8 grams of carbs, 1 gram of sugar, 2 grams of saturated fat and 2 grams of protein. It's low in sodium, has no cholesterol and is gluten-free, if you buy the kind that's produced in a certified, gluten-free facility such as Bob's Red Mill.

Bob recommends storing it in an airtight container in the fridge or freezer, but I don't bother since I use it up so quickly. Bob's Organic Coconut Flour is even sold in the bulk section at Winco, for about $3.20 per pound. (BTW, Winco's bulk section is absolutely fabulous -- check it out.)

One important thing to remember about substituting coconut flour for other types of flour: It absolutely cannot be substituted measure for measure, as it is highly absorbent and your dish will turn out extremely dry if you don't at least double or even triple the liquids. It takes a bit of experimentation if you're creating your own recipe, so when you buy the coconut flour be sure to get enough for a test batch of whatever you're trying.

That's why this recipe uses four eggs for just 1/3 cup of coconut flour, and still makes about 10 good-sized biscuits. I time them so they come out of the oven about 5 minutes before serving time, so they're still warm and slightly steaming when they're broken in half and headed for my mouth.

In a medium bowl, whisk the eggs, salt and onion powder until well mixed, then slowly whisk in the melted, cooled coconut oil or butter.

In a separate bowl, sift together the coconut flour and baking powder, then whisk the dry mix into the egg mixture until there are no lumps.

The dough will be fairly loose and sticky at first but will firm up quickly. Fold in the cheese (and other additions of your choice) and mix until it's evenly distributed. Drop lumps of batter measuring about 1/4 cup onto the baking sheet and flatten them slightly into more-or-less round blobs about 2 inches in diameter. They won't spread very much when baking.

Bake at 400 F for 15 minutes or until lightly browned. Makes about 10 biscuits.